Future
Navigating toward the best of all possible futures. Follow along as Singularity Hub discusses the future and latest trends in futurology.
Drugs, Robots, and the Pursuit of Pleasure: Why Experts Are Worried About AIs Becoming Addicts
In 1953, a Harvard psychologist thought he discovered pleasure—accidentally—within the cranium of a rat. With an electrode inserted into a specific area of its brain, the rat was allowed to pulse the implant by...
Magnetizable Concrete in Roads Could Charge Electric Cars While You Drive
One of the biggest barriers to electric vehicle adoption is the fear of running out of juice before you get to your destination. Roads that can charge your vehicle as you drive could be...
NASA Timelapse Shows X-59 Supersonic Jet Being Built Over Two Years
The final flight of British Airways’ Concorde took place in October 2003, going from New York to London in three and a half hours. Inaugurated in 1976, the supersonic jet flew more than 2.5...
These Mice Were Born From Sperm That Spent Almost 6 Years in Space
As inconceivable as it still sounds, the wheels have been set in motion for humans to one day reach and colonize Mars. There’s already a detailed design for the first Martian city, SpaceX is...
This Drone Bus Will Carry 40 Passengers Between Cities for the Price of a Train Ticket
Multiple companies are working on new aerial modes of transportation, be they taxis that fly, drones that drive, or cars that drive and fly. What most of these vehicles have in common is that...
When Will the First Baby Be Born in Space?
When the first baby is born off-Earth, it will be a milestone as momentous as humanity’s first steps out of Africa. Such a birth would mark the beginning of a multi–planet civilization for the...
Japan Wants to Build Intercontinental Passenger Spaceships by the Early 2040s
A booming space industry is making it easier than ever to get into orbit, but Japan is betting that it could revolutionize terrestrial travel, too. The country’s science ministry has unveiled a plan to...
See the Wild Plans for Nüwa, a Proposed City on Mars Built Inside a Giant Cliff
Despite being able to land rovers on Mars and fly helicopters there, it seems humans are still somewhat far away from actually setting foot on the red planet. But for an endeavor as unprecedented...
Singularity Is Relaunching the ‘Singularity Radio’ Podcast Network
While Covid-19 has reshaped many aspects of our lives, one thing that hasn’t changed is the desire to learn and stay entertained while juggling our many day-to-day obligations. To make sure we’re doing our...
Google AI Researchers Are Dreaming Up a New Species of Search Engine
Imagine a collection of books—maybe millions or even billions of them—haphazardly tossed by publishers into a heaping pile in a field. Every day the pile grows exponentially.
Those books are brimming with knowledge and answers....
Toyota Is Building a Futuristic Prototype City Powered by Hydrogen
Most of the focus for making self-driving cars a widespread reality is on the cars themselves, specifically on the technology they require to safely perceive and interact with the world around them: sensors, cameras,...
In ‘Klara and the Sun,’ We Glimpse an Eerie Future Through the Eyes of a Robot
In a store in the center of an unnamed city, humanoid robots are displayed alongside housewares and magazines. They watch the fast-moving world outside the window, anxiously awaiting the arrival of customers who might...
The Game Has Changed: Why We Need New Rules for Space Exploration
The first human expedition to Mars could take place within five to ten years. The crew will be made up mainly of volunteers, with the goal of establishing a colony on the red planet...
Will Robots Make Good Friends? Scientists Are Already Starting to Find Out
In the 2012 film Robot and Frank, the protagonist, a retired cat burglar named Frank, is suffering the early symptoms of dementia. Concerned and guilty, his son buys him a “home robot” that can...
Flying Taxis Will Hit LA Skies by 2024, According to a California Startup’s Plan
Air taxis still seem like a far-off concept, especially in a time when a lot of people have stopped flying or using shared transportation altogether. But the technology has continued to advance nonetheless, as...
We’re Teaching Robots to Evolve Autonomously—So They Can Adapt to Life Alone on Distant Planets
It’s been suggested that an advance party of robots will be needed if humans are ever to settle on other planets. Sent ahead to create conditions favorable for humankind, these robots will need to...
China Wants to Be the World’s AI Superpower. Does It Have What It Takes?
China’s star has been steadily rising for decades. Besides slashing extreme poverty rates from 88 percent to under 2 percent in just 30 years, the country has become a global powerhouse in manufacturing and...
These Futuristic Flying Ambulances May Soon Be Zooming Around New York
Ambulance use surged in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, even as emergency medical service providers struggled due to the revenue hit they took from delayed and canceled elective procedures. While we’re fervently hoping...
Forget Your Five-Year Plan: What If We Visualized Humanity’s Future in Centuries, Millennia, and Beyond?
“Where do you see yourself in five years?” It’s a classic job interview question, designed to probe your level of ambition and aspiration. And it probes about as far ahead as many of us...
Amazon’s New Robotaxi Has No Steering Wheel, But It Can Drive for 16 Hours Straight
After almost a year of limiting our contact with the people in our lives and humanity in general, it’s hard to imagine a future where we freely move about our cities and towns going...
Future Cities: New Challenges Mean We Need to Reimagine the Look of Urban Landscapes
Imagining future cities has long been a favorite activity for architects, artists, and designers. Technology is often central in these schemes—it appears as a dynamic and seemingly unstoppable force, providing a neat solution to...
How Much Do Our Genes Restrict Free Will?
Many of us believe we are masters of our own destiny, but new research is revealing the extent to which our behavior is influenced by our genes.
It’s now possible to decipher our individual genetic...
Will the Coronavirus Evolve to Be Less Deadly?
No lethal pandemic lasts forever. The 1918 flu, for example, crisscrossed the globe and claimed tens of millions of lives, yet by 1920, the virus that caused it had become significantly less deadly, causing...
Why We Need a Collective Vision to Design the Future of Health
My mother died of Covid-19 at the age of 91. She was recovering from surgery in an assisted-living facility in Durham, North Carolina. While she had previously been healthy, the virus aggressively invaded her...
There Could Be 300 Million (or More) Earth-Like Planets in Our Galaxy
The first planets discovered outside our solar system were strange, unfamiliar worlds. These were giants like Jupiter, hotter than Venus, tearing around their suns inside the orbit of Mercury. Astronomers have since discovered planets...
The Far Side of the Moon Is an Ideal Place to Listen For Alien Civilizations
Are we alone in the universe? It’s a question whose answer—whether it's yes or no—would philosophically and scientifically rock our world to the core.
To find out, scientists have long been turning powerful radio telescopes...
Digital Technologies Will Help Build Resilient Communities After the Coronavirus Pandemic
Amid the horrific public health and economic fallout from a fast-moving pandemic, a more positive phenomenon is playing out: Covid-19 has provided opportunities to businesses, universities, and communities to become hothouses of innovation.
Around the...
The World’s Space Agencies Are on a Quest to Deflect a (Harmless) Asteroid
People have a bottomless appetite for all things space these days. Some space news is truly mind-blowing, like the first image of a black hole last year or this year’s time lapse of said...
IBM Plans to Have a 1,000-Qubit Quantum Computer by 2023
The point at which quantum computers transition from expensive science experiments to a technology that could reshape the future always seems about a decade away. But a new technology roadmap from IBM suggests that...
Airbus Just Unveiled Three New Zero-Emission Concept Aircraft
Air travel has plummeted during the pandemic; not only do a lot of people not feel safe being in airports or on planes, but with everything we used to do being closed or canceled,...
Resilience Is the New Black: The Lessons of Covid-19
For years it can seem as if the world is predictable, and then all at once, everything changes.
Most of us have been blown away by the speed at which the coronavirus, Covid-19, has swept...
Uber Wants to Go All-Electric by 2030. It Won’t Be Easy
The coronavirus pandemic has been an all-around nightmare, but there are a few silver linings. One of these is a renewed focus on the environment. Emissions plummeted worldwide when countries went into lockdown in...
Solarpunk Is Growing a Gorgeous New World in the Cracks of the Old One
What will the future look, smell, sound, taste, and feel like? And why on Earth—and other planets—are those questions relevant, especially given the havoc going on in the world, right here and now?
Simply put,...
Airships Are No Longer a Relic of the Past; You Could Ride in One by 2023
As concern over climate change and rising temperatures grows, the airline industry is taking heat (pun intended). Flying accounts for 2.5 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions; that’s lower than car travel and maritime...
This Century Will See Massive Shifts in the Global Population, Economy, and Power Structure
A lot of the predictions we hear about the future involve a hot, crowded planet, one where we need some serious science to figure out how to feed everyone and control rising global temperatures....
The 3D Printed Homes of the Future Are Giant Eggs on Mars
Last month, a 3D printed house that can float on a pontoon was unveiled in the Czech Republic. Last year, work started on a community of 3D printed houses for low-income families in Mexico....
How Drones and Aerial Vehicles Could Change Cities
Drones, personal flying vehicles, and air taxis may be part of our everyday life in the very near future. Drones and air taxis will create new means of mobility and transport routes. Drones will...
New Report Predicts Tech Could Fuel an Age of Freedom—or Make Civilization Collapse
With rapid technological progress running headlong into dramatic climate change and widening inequality, most experts agree the coming decade will be tumultuous. But a new report predicts it could actually make or break civilization...
Why Bitcoin Will Be Crucial in Our Cashless Future
Cold, hard cash is king. But maybe not much longer. In many countries, cash transactions are all but disappearing.
People pay with cash just 20 percent of the time in Sweden and only 14 percent...
Fixing What’s Broken: If We Build a Moral Economy, the Future Will Be Better
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, we've been eagerly awaiting a return to normal. We want to be able to go out again, see our friends, and be in public places without feeling like we're risking...
A Human-Centric World of Work: Why It Matters, and How to Build It
Long before coronavirus appeared and shattered our pre-existing “normal,” the future of work was a widely discussed and debated topic. We’ve watched automation slowly but surely expand its capabilities and take over more jobs,...
How to Make Sense of Uncertainty in a Coronavirus World
As the internet churns with information about Covid-19, about the virus that causes the disease, and about what we’re supposed to do to fight it, it can be difficult to see the forest for...
Welcome to Your Sensory Revolution, Thanks to the Pandemic
The way we see, hear, taste, touch, and smell may never be the same again.
Courtesy of Covid-19, we are undergoing a sensory revolution. All of the senses have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic—not...
A Chinese Startup Is Selling Glasses for Virus Detection to US Businesses
When will lockdowns end, and what will life be like when they do?
These are the questions on most of our minds today; we’ve accepted that even once restrictions ease, society won’t go back to...
Coronavirus: What Are the Chances We’ll Change Our Behavior in the Aftermath?
The world as we know it may never be the same. The global economy has slowed, people are living in isolation, and the death toll from an invisible killer is rising exponentially. The coronavirus...
Coronavirus Is Changing How We Live, Work, and Use Tech—Permanently
Within a week, many world leaders went from downplaying the seriousness of coronavirus to declaring a state of emergency. Even the most efficacious of nations seem to be simultaneously confused and exasperated, with delayed...
Coronavirus Is a Once in a Lifetime Chance to Reshape How We Travel
The transport sector has been impacted as much as any by the coronavirus. This isn’t a normal period of disruption, which is usually caused by failures in supply such as road accidents or industrial...
NASA’s Plan to Build a Base Camp on the Moon Sounds Like Sci-Fi, But It’s Real
If we’re ever going to make Elon Musk’s vision of colonizing Mars a reality, we first need to figure out an essential component of the plan: how to get there. After all, it’s somewhere...
What Will the World Be Like After Coronavirus? Four Possible Futures
Where will we be in six months, a year, ten years from now? I lie awake at night wondering what the future holds for my loved ones. My vulnerable friends and relatives. I wonder...
What Would Life on Mars Be Like? Millions of Us Are Getting a Taste
I live in California’s Bay Area, so for the last week and a half I’ve joined around seven million people in a shelter-in-place mandate. While my family is adjusting to this new normal, I’ve...
